Become Your Inner Beauty
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: After a failed mission, Ben becomes enraged and doubts his abilities. But things take quite a turn when he goes through a strange change.
1. Chapter 1

**Inspired by my favorite fairy tale, I decided to do this story! Enjoy and no flames!**

* * *

"THAT'S IT!" Ben yelled as he stormed out of the Plumber Base. He face was bruised and his whole body was a complete mess.

Rook chased after him. "Ben! Come back!"

Ben had failed to stop Kyber from escaping. The ruthless hunter disabled Ben's Omnitrix, preventing it from working.

Enraged, Ben tried to attack Kyber head on, only to be defeated in mere seconds.

Kyber didn't stop there. He gave the young hero a horrible beating.

Before he blacked out, Ben remembered Kyber's words.

 _"Too bad you don't have your own natural abilities to rely on, Tennyson."_

And if that wasn't bad enough, The Plumbers tried to call Azmuth to help repair the Omnitrix, but the senile Galvan blocked out their calls.

Ben was furious.

"Ben, please!" Rook caught up to him. "You can't go out in your condition!"

"Rook! Look what Kyber did to me! He's gonna pay for this!"

"Not with the Omnitrix busted, you're not." Max Tennyson said. "You need to set this one out and recover, Ben. You didn't stand a chance against Kyber! He could have killed you!"

"But Grandpa-"

"No buts!" Max shouted. He sighed. "You need to stay here."

"He is right, Ben." said Rook. "Without the Omnitrix, you are just a-"

"A what?!" Ben snapped, glaring at his partner.

"Uh, um," Rook tried to say the right thing.

"A weak, powerless human? Is that it?" Ben said, his anger rising.

"I did not say that!"

"But you were gonna!" Ben yelled. "You know what?! If you pinheads think I'll be dead weight and can't fight my own battles, FINE!" He spun on his heel and stomped away.

"Where are you going?!" Rook said.

"Somewhere away from you people! You don't want a worthless, weak, and pathetic human in your way!" Ben said angrily.

* * *

It was a cool summer evening. Ben was furious as he walked down the streets to go home.

He wished Kyber wasn't right about Ben not having any abilities of his own.

Suddenly, something red ran into Ben face. He jumped back. "Hey!"

Ben saw a bushel of red roses in front of him. A red haired girl with glasses poked her head out beside them.

"Gwen?! What are you doing here?"

Ben's cousin, Gwen Tennyson, grinned. "Thanks, I'm happy to see you too." She gasped when she saw Ben in bad shape. "Ben?! What happened to you?"

Ben scowled. "Well, Kyber escaped, deactivated the Omnitrix, beat the snot out of me, and now I'm a worthless human that no one wants." he said coldly. "What's up with you?"

"Ben, don't be upset." Gwen tried to coax.

"I have every right to be upset!" Ben snipped. "And what's the flowers?"

"I picked these up for Professor Hex." Gwen said. "He says they're magic."

"Seriously? You're running errands for Hex?!" Ben shook his head. "No matter how many times you say it, I'll never get used to Hex being a good guy."

"How about you stop being a grump?" Gwen suggested. "Hex really has changed for the better."

Ben sneered. "Well, Teacher's pet, you can just go ahead and smell the roses while I have better things to do!" He took off.

"What? Being a jerk?" said Gwen.

Ben did not reply as he kept walking all the way home.

* * *

The next morning, Rook, Rachel, as Sasha arrived at Ben's front door.

"You think Ben's really in the mood to see us?" Sasha asked.

"Sasha, Ben's family to us. He needs our support more than ever." Rachel said.

"You're right." said Sasha.

"But it won't be easy." Rook reminded them.

The trio entered Ben's house. His parents weren't home, but Rachel and Sasha knew Ben was here somewhere. They went to his bedroom.

"Ben?" Rachel knocked on the door. "Are you in there?"

"No! Go away!" Ben said from behind.

"Come on, Ben! You can't hide in there forever!" Rachel said. "Let us in!"

"NO!"

Rook sighed. "Stubborn as always." He took a step back, and kicked the door open.

"Ben?" Rook, Rachel, and Sasha came in. The room was dark as a cave.

But the gang saw something rather large in Ben's bed.

"Ben, come out of there." Rook said.

A pair of green eyes peeked from the covers. "Uh, guys. I'm not feeling well. You should go."

But Rook wasn't giving up. "Ben, come out of there now!" He marched right over to the bed.

Ben jumped off the bed. He held the blanket over himself. "NO! I-It could be contagious!"

Rook frowned. Ben was acting like he didn't want to be seen.

Then he heard Rachel and Sasha gasp. Rook saw the girls with shocked expressions, their faces were white.

Rachel pointed down at something. Rook looked back and saw what Rachel was looking at.

The Revonnahgander's eyes grew immensely large.

"Ben," Rook said after a pause. "Do symptoms include hairy, clawed toes?"

Ben looked down and sure enough, his toes were seen.

They were furry and clawed, like an animal's.

Before Ben could make an excuse, Rook grabbed the blanket and yanked it away.

Ben froze. Rook's mouth went agape.

Rachel went stiff and whimpered. Sasha became lightheaded and almost passed out, but Rachel kept her balanced.

Ben was no longer human. He was a gigantic, top-heavy, but slender beast. With thick light gray fur with a mane like a lion's. He had hind legs and a furry tail.

The only thing that didn't change were his green eyes.

Embarrassed, the boy cringed, revealing his sharp, gleaming fangs.

"Ben," Rook said, a bit hoarse. "What happened to you?!"

"I don't know." Ben said weakly. He looked at his hands, but they were paws. Big, scary, sharp-clawed paws.

"How could this happen to me?!" Ben screamed, alarming his friends. "It's wrong for this many bad things to happen to one person! Even for me!"

"Ben-"

"WHHHHHYYYYYY?!" Ben screamed, or rather, roared.

"BEN! Calm down!" Rook shouted. "You have to remain calm!" He took out his phone. "I shall call Gwendolyn-"

"OH, NO YOU DON'T!" Ben smacked the phone out of Rook's hand. "Remember what happened the last time I became a hideous monster and you called Gwen for help?!"

Ben had a point. Last time, Ben's face was covered with monstrous, puss-filled zits due to Swampfire's blossoming stage. Gwen told Rook nonsense ways to remove the zits just to torture Ben.

And Ben refused to go through that again.

"We don't need Gwen on this one!" Ben said. "Besides, it's not a big deal anyway!"

"Not a big deal?!" Sasha blurted. "You're a-a beast! A giant, scary, horrible beast!"

"Yeah, Ben. This ain't a good look for you." Rachel said. "Maybe we should take you to Frankenstrike."

Ben grumped. "Alright, but he better not try to mess me up!"

At the Grant Mansion, Frankenstrike ran some medical tests on Ben, but the alien scientist and up with nothing.

"My results showed me that Ben is completely healthy, the problem isn't a scientific issue." said Frankenstrike. "But I'll see what I can do about a cure."

"So, I can leave now, right?" Ben said. "I'm gonna get a smoothie."

"Ben, are you sure that's a good idea?" Rachel asked. "Won't you, uh, scare everyone?"

"Oh, please." Ben sniffed. "With all the gross looking aliens running around town, what makes you think I'll scare anyone?"

* * *

Ben arrived at Mr. Smoothy's. There were humans and aliens enjoying their smoothies. There were a few curious glances at Ben, but he didn't care. He just wanted a smoothie and wanted it now.

But just as it was his turn, an alien jumped in and pointed a gun at the clerk.

"HEY!" Ben yelled, he grabbed the alien mugger and turned to face him. The crook aimed his gun, but Ben snatched his out his hand and crumpled it like a piece of paper.

"GET OUT OF HERE!" Ben grasped the alien by his windpipe and threw him all the way into a building. Bystanders could only gaze in shock.

"Hey, you!"

Ben turned and there was Chadzmuth, the Galvan lawyer. "That was gonna be my new client, ya little-"

"ROOOOOOOAAAAAR!" Ben let out a horrible roar right in the tiny alien's face.

The force of the roar blew Chadzmuth right into the store wall.

"Never mind..." he grunted out. He fell painfully on the ground.

Ben smirked. "Y'know, I could get used to this."

After the smoothie break, Ben decided to take his beast form for a test drive. He looked up at a tall building and jumped, all the way up to the roof.

"OH, YEAH!" Ben cried out. He ran on all fours, jumping from rooftop to rooftop, his fur whipping in the wind. The rush, the adrenaline pumping, the feral nature flowing inside him,

Ben felt happy again!

"THIS IS THE BEST DAY EVER!" Ben roared for the whole town to hear.

The news was heard all over town. Ben the Beast was catching criminals at a record pace. From Animo to Fistrick to Zombozo, they all came crashing painfully down at the hands of Ben's monstrous beast form.

Rumors about Ben spread all over the alien underworld. And criminals didn't dare cross paths with him.

Not even innocents...

At the Plumber Base, Rook watched Ben skillfully jump through the obstacle course. He was passing it with ease.

"Your physically training has progressed well." Rook noted.

"What'd you expect? I've got mad skills!" Ben bragged.

"Ben, it's not you. It's the Beast." Max told him as he walked in.

"Come on, Grandpa. This is the greatest thing that's ever happened!" Ben said. "Being a beast is a hundred times better than being a human!"

"Oh, well, excuse me." Max said harshly. "I'm so sorry your own species is so pathetic."

Ben forgot that Max was a human. "Grandpa, don't get jelly just because I'm bigger and stronger than you."

"I'm not jelly." Max said. "I'm just disappointed in you."

"Oh, break my heart." Ben mocked with fake sadness. He turned away. "You better buck up and deal with it."

And the beastly young man swaggered away.


	2. Chapter 2

It was night time and Ben was on the prowl, searching for criminal scum to clean up. With his keen hearing, he heard an alarm go off.

The alarm came from the bank. Ben spotted a cloaked figure running off with sacks of money.

Ben grinned his dripping fangs. "Time for some fun..." He leaped off a building and chased the figure into a dark alleyway until the robber was cornered.

The figure pressed against the wall as Ben the Beast lurched towards him. "Nowhere to run...no way out..." snarled Ben. He lunged forward.

But the figure fired at Ben, he trapped the young beast in a laser net.

"NO!" Ben growled and snarled, trying to claw his way out. But it was no use.

"I'm sorry, Ben." said the figure. "But this is for your own good." He pulled his hood back.

"Rook?! You?!" Ben gasped.

"I'm taking you to Gwendolyn." Rook said. "We need to find a cure."

"NEVER!" Ben roared. He actually managed to rip the net open and jumped onto Rook. Ben was going to give him a piece of his mind until something sharp struck Ben in the neck.

Ben let out a shriek of pain. He went to his neck and pulled out what looked like a dart.

Ben felt groggy and fell over, everything going black.

* * *

"Rise and shine, Tennyson." a grimly voice said.

Ben began to wake up and gasped when he found himself chained up tightly. There he saw the villain who started it all.

"Kyber!" Ben snarled and snapped his jaws at the hunter.

"Save your futile struggling, Tennyson." Kyber said as he sharpened his knife on a cutting block. "I've never seen a creature like this before. You will make an excellent addition to my collection. Or I could sell you to the highest bidder, I'm sure you'll fetch a hefty price."

Kyber looked over to Rook, who was still unconscious. "I'll have to remember to thank your sidekick for trapping you. It saved me a lot of time."

"I'LL GET OUT OF THIS AND TEAR YOU APART!" Ben yelled.

Kyber chuckled at Ben's struggling. He decided to silence the boy for good. He grabbed Ben by the throat and was ready to park his blade right through his neck.

Just then, a blast of pink shot the knife out of Kyber's hand.

Kyber turned and saw Gwen, Rachel, and Sasha.

Gwen aimed her super-powered hands at the hunter. "Stand down, Kyber. Don't make it any worse." she warned.

"Ah, beautiful damsels rescuing the big nasty beast." Kyber mused. "What a plot twist."

"GIVE BEN BACK!" Gwen blasted away, but Kyber used a energy shield to bock her mana blasts and charged right at them.

"Out of the way!" Rachel shouted. The girls jumped away. Gwen went to Ben and freed him from his restraints, Ben was ready to put Kyber down until he heard the screma of a girl.

"SASHA!" Rachel screamed.

Kyber had Sasha in his grasp. "Nobody moves or this girl will be my trophy." The tip of his blade was against Sasha's neck.

Gwen and Rachel were furious. Kyber had crossed the line. If they counterattacked, Sasha will be killed. They were now at a loss.

"Kyber," Ben said all of a sudden. "Let Sasha go and take me."

Gwen and Rachel couldn't believe there ears! Even Sasha couldn't believe it.

"Is this some sort of joke?" Kyber bellowed.

"No," Ben came closer. "Let Sasha go and you can do what you want with me."

"Ben, NO!" Rachel said.

"Forget it, Rachel." Ben told her. "I'm a beast and that's all I'm ever gonna be. Sasha's much more important to you all than me."

"BEN! That's not true!" Rachel tried to tell him, but Ben tuned her out.

"Kyber, let Sasha go and do your worst on me." Ben said. He got down on his knees.

Kyber arched a brow. Then he threw Sasha aside and was about to put the energy cuffs on Ben.

The girls expected Ben to get the jump on him, but Ben didn't move. He closed his eyes and accepted his fate.

"AAAAH!" Ben screamed, his entire body flashed in a radiant light.

Everyone was blinded as the light grew brighter. Sparkles of light swirled around Ben's shining body.

At last, the light died down.

"What the-?!" Ben was human again! No fur, no fangs, no claws! Everything beastly about him was gone!

"You tricked me!" Kyber hissed.

"What?! No! I didn't! I mean-!" Ben had no idea what just happened or how this was even possible!

Kyber was about to strike until someone grabbed his neck and pinched a nerve, knocking him out.

"Rook!" Rachel cried.

"You have the right to become the hunted." Rook said as he put the cuffs on Kyber.

* * *

Kyber was taken away by the Plumbers once again.

The gang saw Ben with a big frown on his face.

"What's wrong, Ben?" asked Rachel. "We beat Kyber!"

"And saved my life!" Sasha said. "You should be happy!"

Ben turned away. "I guess..." He looked at his human hands. "I just don't understand what happened."

"I understand." Gwen said. "Remember the roses I had? The _magic_ roses you bumped into?"

Ben nodded.

"Professor Hex told me that the pollen in the roses cursed you to turn into a beast to reflect the coldness in you heart. But when you sacrificed yourself to save Sasha, the spell was broken."

"So...that's why I was a beast?" Ben said. "Because I was cursed?"

"Yup, a real Beauty and the Beast." Rachel said.

Rook saw Ben completely stone faced, as if something was still bothering him. "I-I'm sorry for tricking you, Ben." he said. "And I'm sorry you lost your beastly powers."

Ben sighed. "It's okay, Rook. Some things just weren't meant to be..."

Gwen tried to change the subject. "So, who's up for Burger Shack?"

"Yeah!" Sasha said.

"I'm in!" Rachel agreed.

"That sounds wonderful." said Rook. "What about you, Ben?"

But Ben was nowhere to be seen.

"Huh? Ben! Where is he?!"

Rachel looked around. "He was right here a second ago!"

* * *

Ben walked all the way back to his house. He just wanted to hide in bed and wallow in self-pity for the rest of the night.

But he paused when he saw a certain Galvan on the porch.

It was Azmuth.

"What do you want?" Ben snapped. "Come to criticize me for being an idiot?"

"I only came to fix the Omnitrix." said the Galvan. "Is that a problem?"

Ben delivered the alien a withering glare. "You've got a lot of nerve showing up now."

"I was busy with my work." Azmuth replied. "But I'm here now, aren't I?"

"Whatever." Ben sighed and sat on the porch. "I don't care, do what you want."

Azmuth shrugged and used a device to activate the Omnitrix. But Ben wasn't fazed.

"Ben, is something wrong?" asked Azmuth. "I've been hearing some nasty rumors about you lately. Something about you being a beast?"

"They're not true anymore." Ben said. "I had strength and all sorts of natural skills. I had my own powers and didn't even need the Omnitrix! I was able to hold my own and get by being a hero. And now, I'm back to being scrawny weakling Ben Tennyson."

"No, you're not Ben Tennyson." said Azmuth.

Ben looked at him. "What are you talking about?"

"This isn't the Ben Tennyson I know. He just saved a precious life from being destroyed, defeated a dangerous enemy, and unknowingly saved himself from being a power-crazed monster."

Ben listened as the First Thinker continued.

"The real Ben Tennyson was always happy and proud of who he was, not all sad and insecure. And sure, he messes up a lot but he always bounces back." said Azmuth. "It would be great for the whole universe if that Ben Tennyson came back. His friends and family, the true source of his strength, would be much happier if he did."

And in a flash of light, Azmuth teleported away.

"Ben!"

Ben turned and saw Rachel, Sasha, Rook, and Gwen running up to him.

Rachel and Sasha grabbed him in a big bear hug. "Ben! Don't ever run away from us like that!" Rachel said.

"You scared us! Please don't do that again!" Sasha said.

Ben felt their hugs fill him with much warmth and love. Rook and Gwen joined in and the feeling grew immensely.

Perhaps this was the true strength Azmuth was talking about.

"I'm sorry, guys." Ben said. "I'll never leave you guys again. I promise."

"Y'know, I think Ben needs to be punished for running away." Rachel said.

Sasha and Rook chuckled.

Gwen was confused. "Punished?"

Rook whispered to Gwen what they were talking about.

Gwen smiled in a wicked manner. "Oh, I see..." She rubbed her hands together.

Before Ben could run away, Gwen restrained Ben with her magic by pinning his arms and legs down. He was trapped.

"Gwen! No!" Ben said, squirming.

"Sorry, Ben." Gwen shrugged. "It just seems like fun!"

"It is!" Rachel lifted up Ben's shirt and started tickling his stomach.

"Ahahahahahahahahahahahahaha! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! RAHAHAHACHEL! NOT THERE!" Ben laughed. He hated being tickled on his stomach.

"Aw, Ben doesn't like tickles on his tum-tum?" Rachel cooed.

"AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! DOHOHON'T TEASE!" Ben hated teasing, it made the tickles even worse.

While Rachel tickled his tummy, Sasha and Rook tickled an underarm.

Now Ben was laughing at full blast. Gwen was amazed that Ben was this ticklish, she never thought he would be ticklish. It never even crossed her mind.

"Cootchie, cootchie, coo!" Sasha sang.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! N-NO MORE! AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Ben begged.

"Not until you're fully punished!" Rachel giggled.

"I-I AHAHAHAHM PUNISHED ENOUGH! HAHAHAHAHA! J-JUST STOP! PLEHEEHEEHEEHEEASE!"

"Gee, guys. Should we stop?" Sasha said as they kept tickling.

The gang looked down at Ben, he was laughing too much to respond.

"Yeah, we should stop." said Gwen, freeing her cousin.

Ben panted, relieved the tickling was done, but he was feeling happy again.

"So, no more feeling sorry for yourself, okay?" Rachel said.

"Yeah, Ben. It ain't you at all." Gwen said. "We all love you just the way you are."

Sasha put her arms around Ben. "So don't be sad anymore, okay?"

"Okay." Ben smiled and returned his friend's hug. "So...did someone mention Burger Shack?"

"Yes." Sasha helped him up. "Let's eat!"

"Good! Cause I've still got the appetite of a beast!" Ben said.

Everyone laughed as they walked to Burger Shack together.

True friends, true strength, and true beauty.


End file.
